If
you are a business looking to relocate, is Wealden the place for
you? Well, first off, the rates are one of the highest in the
country. Conversely, the service is one of the poorest and now
parking charges are creeping in everywhere. Planning permission to
expand, is extremely hard to come by. Basically, Wealden District
Council don't like entrepreneurs. Just ask Roger Brown. He was
required to install toilet and washing facilities at his nursery to
comply with the Health and Safety Regulations.
He did so, then the chief enforcement officer at Wealden, forced him to take the building
down. This cost Roger Łtens of thousands and many years of
litigation. Finally, Roger was forced to put the building back up by
the Health & Safety Executive and planning permission was
granted. The cost of the enforcement and the worry the litigation
caused, would have been enough to sink many businesses. We say, well
done Roger. For standing up to this kind of bullying. But why
is this kind of thing allowed to happen on the 21st century?

There
are many more examples of this sort of obstruction ...................

THE
OLD BOYS CLUB

Unless
you are a member of the club, you are in for a hard ride. The club
is the officers close circle of favoured developers. These
architects and planners (usually ex council employees) seem to get
consent for anything - at a cost to their client. Ian Kay, heads
Wealden's planning department. Charlie Lant is their chief
executive. Whether or not there are corrupt councillors in the
chain is a matter for the Standards Board or the District
Auditor to
investigate. However, the District Auditor seems to be protecting
this council, by refusing to investigate just about anything! The
Local Government Ombudsman is a national disgrace, according to many
person we have heard from across the country.

TO
BE CONTINUED...............................

THANKS

Lastly,
I would just like to say to the growing number of affected members
of the public who telephone or email me, that I am so very pleased
if anything we have published can be used to further just decision
making. The encouragement is mutual! Lastly, if you
cannot find what you are looking for on these pages and need some
help, please help me to help others by emailing first.
Please reserve the telephone for emergencies only.